A Random Christmas Story
by Borrowed Twenties
Summary: When Atlanta and Theresa come up with a brilliant idea to have some random games at the Christmas party, everyone is set for a weird night... And some confessions. AxA, JxT.
1. An Idea

Alright, I suddenly had this very weird and random idea when I was doing basically nothing. I'm going to do a Christmas edition although it's nowhere near Christmas and all. But this Christmas thing is going to be rather special - there shall be games and all. I thought of Truth or Dare first and I could only imagine the hilarious, not to mention embarrassing, things that could happen. This would also give me a chance to finally write A/A instead of only J/T all the time. Hmm, I guess this is going to be really weird and all, but please review all the same!

Disclaimer: Class of the Titans does not belong to me. All I have is a keyboard and a computer to write stories, unfortunately.

**An Idea**

The orange-haired girl paused in front of the window of the shop, her eyes shining with delight. The mannequin in the middle of the display window featured a pale blue shirt with the words 'Closet Poet' in italics printed on the front.

"Atlanta!" Theresa smiled triumphantly, pointing eagerly at the display as her groaning friend dragged herself off the nearby wooden bench and reached her best friend's side. "Look! The perfect gift for Archie!"

Atlanta smirked as she looked up at the shirt. Somehow, it didn't strike her as something Archie would actually appreciate, but she kept her mouth firmly shut. Theresa had been hunting for Archie's present, which was the last one they had to tackle, and Theresa had spent more than an hour scouring the shops for something suitable. _And_ she had insisted on Atlanta coming along. Theresa might have been her best friend, but she did have some faults at time, and shopaholic was listed as one of them.

"So? How about it?"

"Umm..." Atlanta gave her a shrug, then nodded. Well, at least to save herself from the agony that she had been put through for the past four hours. "It's alright. Go ahead. Buy it."

Theresa nodded seriously. "Alright, Lanta, wait here. I'll be right back." With that, she walked into the shop.

Atlanta sighed and settled herself comfortably on the wooden bench once again. She could only imagine the profanities that Archie would pour out once he saw the shirt. Not that Theresa had bad taste, though. Archie probably wouldn't exactly like to proclaim his secret to the world. But then again, picking a shirt that said "Hey! I'm afraid of water! Did you know that!" would be a far worse choice. So he should be thankful.

She yawned tiredly and stretched. What a boring day. She was about to stand up and plead for Theresa to hurry up when she was suddenly struck by a great idea, albeit a random idea.

Theresa emerged from the store, bags in hand, and grinning happily, she walked over to Atlanta. "There, there's the last of them," she said as she slipped the brown package into one of her many bags.

Atlanta rolled her eyes - discreetly, of course - then she motioned for Theresa to join her to sit.

"You know... We've never had a single proper Christmas party with proper games before since the team have gotten together," she started, feeling a rise of excitement bubble within her. "So, I was thinking, maybe we could like, try to make one?"

"Hmm..." Theresa cocked her head to one side. "Maybe that'll do. But somehow I don't see the guys playing any games. What _kind_ of games?"

Atlanta grinned. "Let's say Ten Fingers, Truth or Dare, you know?"

Theresa grinned back, ideas starting to form in her head. Maybe this could be interesting. She could maybe find out things she'd wanted to know before... "Yeah... That could be a great idea." Then she frowned. "The only hurdle would be getting the guys to participate. You know them. They hardly have any game spirit at all."

Atlanta shook her head, crossing her arms. "Don't worry about the guys. I don't think there'll be strong objections, since we'll be putting a lot of effort into this. And we won't tell them. It'll be a surprise party. They won't know till the party starts. And they won't exactly have the chance to back out. They can't, because they wouldn't want to waste all our effort. I hope."

Theresa looked thoughtful, then she bobbed her head enthusiastically. "Alright then," she declared. "Let's put to work this great party! After all, they need to lighten up and do something lame and random once in a while. Especially Jay."

The two girls shot each other affirmative smiles, gave each other a high five and walked away with ideas in their mind already.

Oh, Christmas party was going to be a blast.

--

Coming up next will be random idea after random idea, with all those traditional games you used to play when you were a kid. What's a little random now and then? It won't kill, right? It's time for nonsensical writing to begin!


	2. Ten Fingers

Hmm. There's going to be more random-ness coming right up. Hope you can bear with me for this random-ness. But I think this is going to be fun, anyway. I would like to give a special thanks to **Yingjiao and Hui Min**, my friends, who helped me come up with the 7 games. It took a mighty long time to find all the funnest, most appropriate games for this fic and for me to familiarise myself with the rules of the games and all. A lot of effort has been put into this, so I hope you'd review. If you hate it, please have no qualms about telling me(:

**Ten Fingers**

"...And we put in a lot of effort in planning this. So, you're going to play the games," Atlanta announced, her hands on her hips. Theresa was standing beside her, grinning a little at the blank faces that faced them.

Everyone stared at Atlanta, looking a little edgy as though they wanted to run. But of course, Atlanta and Theresa wasn't going to let them. Not if they could help it.

Jay raised his hand a little awkwardly. "Hey, is it alright if I go back to my room? I'm - I'm uhh... Working on a plan to stop Cronus. Yeah."

Theresa gave him her best puppy-dog look, what with the pleading emerald eyes and even a little tear. "Jay, PLEASEE. We put in a lot of effort into this. You're not going to let it go all to waste, are you?"

Her pout made Jay swallow. Backing down with a sigh, he cringed and leaned back onto the plushy armchair. That puppy-dog look always got to him without fail.

"So, any objections?" Atlanta cleared her throat and looked around at the males.

All of the guys gulped audibly, not exactly daring to face off Atlanta. Silence engulfed them for a minute, and Atlanta tapped her foot, a little annoyed. They weren't being much enthusiastic, which was the least they could do. Oh well. After all, they were being forced to do this, weren't they? She would be patient with them - for now, at least.

She smiled brightly at the guys, who grimaced inwardly at that scary grin. "Let's start off with Ten Fingers."

--

A few minutes later, everyone was sitting down on the floor in a circle, awaiting instructions. It went in the order of Atlanta, Herry, Odie, Archie, Jay, Theresa and lastly, Neil.

Theresa looked around, and, seeing their confused looks, she decided to explain the game. "Alright, everyone has to raise all their ten fingers. It goes around the circle, and everyone, when it is their turn, must say something they've never done before. For example, I could say I've never bungee-jumped before. Anybody who has done that particular thing before must put down his or her finger. So that means anyone who _has_ bungee-jumped before must put down one finger. The people who have put all ten fingers down first will be the winner."

Jay nodded, understanding. Well, at least the game didn't seem that bad. It was manageable enough. He watched as everyone lifted their hands up, and he followed suit.

Atlanta grinned again. "I'll start. I've never ate sushi before."

All but Atlanta and Herry put down one finger. Jay grinned a little. How could anyone miss out on the delights of sushi? How unfathomable. He shook his head. Maybe this game would end earlier and he'd be able to go back to his planning.

Next, Herry. "Hmm... I've never grown pineapples on the farm before."

Jay wrinkled his nose a little. He noticed no one put down any fingers. Pretty predictable. Hmm, in fact, did _anyone_ actually grow pineapples in a farm before?

Odie grinned as he thought of something. "I've never dealt with PHP scripts before, which is surprising for a genius like me."

All of them gave him a blank look. Jay scratched the bridge of his nose. He might know a thing or two about the computer, but he wasn't a technogeek, unlike Odie.

It was Archie's turn. Jay felt a yawn coming and was about to yawn when he saw Archie shoot him a rather evil smile. He frowned a little, feeling a little worried. That ominous feeling that he was giving him... Okay, he didn't like it one bit.

"I've never liked any people with orange hair before," Archie announced triumphantly, giving Jay a smirk.

_Wait, what?!_ Jay's jaws dropped. He felt the whole room's eyes on him, and it didn't help that Theresa was sitting beside him, grinning and looking at his fingers. He felt the blush coming on and he reluctantly put down one finger, all the while glaring at Archie. Traitor! Well, Jay could play dirty too. Two can play at the same game.

It was his turn now. He, still glaring at Archie who was smirking uncontrollably at him, declared, "I've never liked redheads before."

Now it was Archie's turn for his jaws to drop as he glared daggers at Jay. All eyes turned to Archie this time, but Atlanta remained somewhat oblivious. In this case, everyone was _expecting_ Archie to put down that finger. It was no secret that he liked a certain redhead...

Jay could hear Archie cursing under his breath, directing it to Jay, but he didn't care. Oh, revenge _was_ sweet. Who said that Jay himself couldn't be evil? Jay smiled, feigning innocence as Archie put down one of his fingers. Now they were on a par. But somehow, he was pretty sure that Archie wouldn't leave it as that. But he had asked for it, anyway.

Theresa couldn't stop the grin from spreading on her face as she said, "Hmm, I've never liked purple-haired people before."

Atlanta looked up in horror, shooting a glare at her best friend. What, was she trying to turn this into a war? Yet she was confused - she didn't really know if she liked Archie. But it would be unfair for her to _not_ put down her finger and get away with it, only to find out that she _did_ like Archie. After all, Atlanta always fought fair. Well, most of the time anyway.

Sighing, she put down one of her fingers, earning a gasp from everyone in the entire team, including Archie, whose eyes widened noticeably. Atlanta noticed this, of course, and she snapped immediately, "Archie, don't you know there are other purple-haired people around?" This promptly wiped the wide smile on Archie's face and his shoulders drooped a little.

Neil examined his nails as he distractedly said, "Hmm, I've never had a zit before."

Everyone put one finger down. Jay realised he'd already put down three fingers, while the others haven't. Well, then again, Archie had the same number of fingers down as him. Good. He would have to win this game if he wanted to gloat over Archie.

It reached Atlanta again, and she stated, "I've never liked brown-haired people before." Jay couldn't help but let his gaze drift over to Theresa, who sat awkwardly beside him.

Theresa shrugged nonchalantly, as though she didn't bother, and she put one finger down, as did Herry and Odie. Well, so it was pretty much confirmed. She _did_ like him. Well, at least there was enough evidence to know there was a good chance of that she liked him.

As the game went by, more fingers were put down. It came to Archie's turn again, and he grinned evilly. From that, Jay could tell that Archie meant business.

"I've never liked a girl with green eyes before."

Jay had braced himself for something like that, and his face reddening as he scowled irrately, he put down one of his fingers, looking away from Theresa's face, which was currently painted with delight.

"I've never liked a girl with brown eyes before." Jay retorted, watching with satisfaction as Archie narrowed his eyes and put one finger down. Everyone seemed to be watching this battle rage within the game.

Theresa decided not to give Atlanta a hard time, and she said something easy. "I've never... I've never had true friends until I met you guys."

There was silence for a while, and Jay looked around solemnly as he put down his finger. To his surprise, Herry, Odie, Archie and even _Neil_ all didn't put down their fingers. Jay felt a rush of warmth in his insides as he gazed at the people he had come to know as his second family. Yeah, they were family all right.

The game made its rounds again and surprisingly, Archie didn't mention anything about Jay's crush on Theresa. So, Jay was kind as well and left that one out, stating more innocent things about himself that he had never done before. At that moment, the people leading were Jay and Atlanta, who both had nine fingers down. One more to go, and both of them would win.

It was Archie's turn again. Leaning back onto the wall, he looked up, then suddenly turned to face Jay with a wicked grin. Oh great, he's starting it again, Jay thought in annoyance and prepared himself for it.

But it was nothing that he could have prepared himself for when Archie smirked and said, "I've never liked Theresa before."

It was like the beating of his heart came to a stop when Jay heard that. He was at a loss for words and worse still, he felt everyone's eyes on him. Trust Archie to have to win at a stupid game like this by making him let his guard down then following up with a "fatal blow". Jay squeezed his eyes shut. There was no way out of this. He was going to have to put his last finger down. He was debating whether to lie his way through or not when Archie nudged him conspiratorically. Hissing, he put down his last finger when he suddenly thought of a brilliant idea to get himself out of this sticky situation.

"I think we all do like Theresa. She's our great friend. I think everyone likes her - well except for Archie, that is. Isn't it?" Jay looked imploringly at all his other friends, begging them, pleading them to go along with his plan.

After a moment's hesitation, everyone except Theresa and Archie put down one finger, and thus Jay and Atlanta had won.

Archie, his face turning purple in anger at having lost, glared at Jay and whispered under his breath, "That was really dirty, even a little _too_ dirty for a goody-two-shoes like you."

Jay shrugged and gave him a seldom-seen award-winning smile ass he whispered back. "Don't we _all_ have our own skeletons in our closets?"

--

Okay, that's the end of this chapter. I know it's really random and all, but I hope you liked it. Well, I know that some characters seem a little OOC here, and I'll try to work on that. Anyway, please review! Since I love writing about all these games and everything, I think I'll try to update as soon as possible. The next chapter will be on another game, but I won't tell you what for now. You just have to wait and see!


	3. Honey

Okay, here's the next one. There are going to be 7 games in total. Hmm. Random isn't it? That's the whole point of it.(: This game for this chapter is a game that is also known as **Poor Pussy**, but I think this variation of the game suits the team much better. Anyway, it's way nicer and I've played it before with a huge bunch of people so I'm pretty familiar with it.

**Honey**

"What are we going to play next?" Herry questioned.

"Honey," Atlanta announced next. Seeing everyone's clueless expression, she nodded to Theresa, who began to explain.

"The person who starts off must stand in the middle of the circle and will be called the Honey, and he or she must pick a person. He or she must say, "Oh honey, if you love me, you'll smile for me." or something along those lines in the funniest way possible to make the person laugh or smile. No touching is permitted. The targeted person must reply, "Honey, I love you, but I just can't smile for you." without laughing at all. If the person does laugh or smile, he will be the next Honey and the previous Honey will take his seat. If he doesn't, the Honey must move on and try to make other people laugh. After ten minutes, we stop the game. Simple as pie. Got it?"

Everyone nodded.

"So, who should we start with?" Atlanta began, looking around. All eyes came to rest on Neil almost immediately.

"Hey, why are you guys looking at me like that?" Neil exclaimed, pulling out his mirror instantly. "Is there something on my face or something?"

Theresa groaned, then rolled her eyes. "Who votes for Neil to start, raise your hand."

Everyone raised their hands, except for Neil, who grimaced.

"Does it _have_ to be me?" the blonde asked, crossing his arms. "You guys are always picking on me."

"Yes it does," Atlanta said, hiding her grin as she practically pushed the boy to the middle of the circle and immediately closed up the gap to prevent Neil from sneaking back in. "Let the game begin!"

Neil's eyes scoured the people who were sitting innocently, looking and awaiting his next move. Who would be the easiest target? He wanted to get this over with quickly so he could return to his seat and check out his appearance. He was sure Atlanta had messed up his hair by pushing him earlier.

Eyes looking around with a determined pout, Neil's eyes came to rest on Odie.

Bending down and groaning at having to put his beautiful face to shame, he gave Odie his best smile ever and said, fluttering his short eyelashes, "Oh honey, if you'll love me, you'll smile for me, won't you?"

Odie's face looked like it was twisted into a huge big smile for a second, and then he couldn't help but burst out laughing. Neil looked just like on one of those ads that was posted everywhere - those _girl_ ads.

Neil gave the amused group a triumphant smile. Of course, no one could resist his charm - not even guys, for that matter. He settled himself comfortably into Odie's place as Odie reluctantly got up and stared around the circle.

Neil debated taking out his mirror, then decided against it. This was going to be fun, and he didn't want to miss it. He watched as Odie did the same thing that he had done a few minutes ago - walk around, look at everyone. Then, he saw Odie stop right in front Atlanta, who was trying her best to keep a straight face.

Odie groaned too, just like Neil had done as well, and got down on his knees and blinked at Atlanta. "Oh honey, if you'll love me, you'll smile for me!"

Neil couldn't help but snigger; after all, Odie wasn't a natural like _he_ the expert was, and Odie saying it came out as a weird, forced sentence. But the expression - awkward - on his face was absolutely priceless, not because it was convincing, but because it seemed plain stupid - at least to Neil. The other thing Neil had noticed was that Archie seemed to be eying the scene with a look of discontentment. Could it be possible that the purple-haired warrior was actually... jealous? But this was only just a game! Anyway, Archie the closet poet had always seemed to be a jealous and possessive kind of person. Atlanta, his territory, blah blah blah... Neil smirked at this. Archie's antics were always pretty humorous, after all.

Thankfully for Odie, it worked and Atlanta laughed out loud. Atlanta was those I-laugh-all-the-time types, so it wasn't really surprising. Neil watched again, grinning, as Atlanta zeroed in on poor Archie, who looked like he got ants in his pants. Aha. An easy target. Atlanta would be smart to pick Archie.

"Oh honey, if you'll love me, you'll smile for me, right?" Atlanta gave Archie her cutest look. Archie gulped at this, feeling his face flush with embarrassment. I mean, she just called him honey there. Feeling suddenly very goofy, Archie returned the smile with his own silly one, and was still feeling lost as Atlanta dragged him out to the middle by the arm and sat herself promptly in his previous seat.

Archie groaned. He hadn't seen that one coming. Looking at the people with a peeved look, he decided to try Theresa, who looked very non-smiling at the minute.

He dropped to his knees suddenly and sung dramatically, "Roses are red, flowers are blue, oh honey if you love me, you'll smile for me, won't you?"

Theresa, surprised at his sudden show of "charisma", laughed, as did everyone else in the circle. Finally, Archie was putting his poetic side to good use. Beaming with pride, Archie sat down and Theresa stood up grudgingly.

Well, part of the reason Archie had picked Theresa to try his luck with was because he knew that the person Theresa was going to choose was a certain brown-haired leader... Anyway, the poor guy would always send himself into blushing and stutters when the orange-haired girl gave a hand at the flirting... After all, Archie hadn't exactly forgotten about what had happened in the previous game. It was revenge time!

Theresa, as predicted, was weighing her options and she knew that she could probably make Jay smile, at the very least.

Turning around, she whirled to face Jay and stooped down immediately, noticing with somewhat glee that Jay looked like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights.

Her face was so near that if Jay moved forward just one inch, his lips would be touching hers. He was suddenly filled with acute awareness of what could happen if he wasn't careful. After all, all those dreams were aching to come true. But of course he couldn't try it now, not in front of everyone else... Or could he? He swallowed at the whirling of his mind. He was about to grin, and Theresa hadn't even opened her mouth to say anything. He felt a blush creeping onto his face as he felt cornered.

Seeing the grins on all his friends' face, he felt a little mad at them for laughing at him. What, who said that he couldn't resist the Theresa charm? Alright, even _he_ did. But anyway, he was going to have to give it a go if he wanted to save his face - if not, he'd have to go dig himself a hole in the garden and hide there for eternity.

"Jay, oh honey, if you love me, you'll smile for me," she said, batting her eyelashes prettily at him, emerald eyes sparkling with mischief. He just wanted to swoon and die and give in. The proximity from her face to his had just narrowed to about a milimetre and his imagination was driving him wild. Of course, he wouldn't state anything that he was dreaming about right here. Ahem.

"Honey, I love you, but I can't - can't - can't..." Jay ground out the words, trying desperately not to give a goofy smile like Archie did. "I can't smile for you," he finished, thankful that he had actually gotten the words out without even smiling a beat.

There was stunned silence in the room, then everyone started clapping loudly at his achievement, with Herry whistling and everything. Jay glared at his friends, as did Theresa, who looked disappointed and almost hurt. Jay felt guilt enter his stomach in a whoosh. Had he done the wrong thing? Had he just hurt her feelings by not reciprocating with a smile? He almost knocked himself on the head. Of course not, he was being ridiculous as usual. This was only a game. Argh, Theresa seemed to cloud his thinking department all the time. Archie, meanwhile, frowned unhappily. He had currently scored no points against Jay so far. The score was two to zero, and the odds were in Jay's favour.

Theresa crossed her arms, slightly stung that Jay hadn't responded. She didn't know what to say - maybe he always blushed when she was around because the Theresa charm had been put into action, but then Theresa herself wasn't whom he loved. Feeling a little hurt and empty, she brushed away her emotions and tried to concentrate. The first thing that popped into her mind was Neil. She would try it against Neil.

Kneeling down and repeating the same action, she tried it with Neil. "Oh honey, if you love me, you'll smile for me," she tried, unfortunately not noticing the uncharacteristically envious look on Jay's tan face.

But Neil merely examined his fingernails again for the thousandth time that day and returned, "Honey, I don't love you, so why would I smile for you? Go try it on Jay again."

Theresa glared at him, but didn't feel hurt or anything. Well, it was just like him to say something as blunt and sometimes cutting like that. The rest of the group laughed aloud, except for Jay, who also similarly sent Neil the death glare.

Atlanta glanced at the clock then sighed. It had been real fun playing this game, but it was time to move on to the other games. Fifteen minutes had already past and they'd overshot the time.

"Hey hey, game over, it's been ten minutes already," she said aloud.

Odie blinked at the clock and commented, "Actually, Atlanta, fifteen minutes have passed."

Atlanta gave him a peeved look. "You'd think I'll know that?"

"Yeah, but you only mentioned that it's been ten minutes and so I felt the need to correct you and -" The look that Atlanta gave him could have melted metal. Odie winced, raised up his hands in defeat and said, "Okay, okay, I've get you already!"

Theresa rolled her eyes, still standing up. "And the next game shall be..."

--

What is the next game going to be? I know this chapter doesn't have half as much action as the previous chapter. Sorry if you find it boring. My creative juices are being stomped on at the moment. ): I'm going to have to think harder. I promise I'll update soon. Meanwhile, please review all the same!


	4. Stool of Repentance

Yet another chapter to **A Random Christmas Story**. Sorry that I didn't post anything earlier on although now's the holidays. I've just come home from a First Aid Course that my whole level went to, and it consisted of CPR, gory pictures of wounds, a mannequin and practical tests. Okay, let's not talk about that anymore. Ahem. Anyway, back to the story. Thanks for reviewing, all ye' good people, and please continue to review if you can!

By the way, don't ask me why the title of this chapter is so weird and all, it's the name of the real game, and no, I didn't invent any of the games. You can go check it out on Wikipedia (party games) if you're dubious.(: And yes, for **Little Miss Illusional and everyone**, I shall be nice and confirm your hopes that there _will_ be a game of **Truth and Dare** somewhere down the road. Hmm, but that's all I can say. For the rest of the games, you'll just have to be patient and wait!

**Stool of Repentance**

"...Stool of Repentance," Theresa finished brightly.

Everyone, as usual, save for Atlanta, gave her yet a nothing blank look.

"Look, guys," she said, rather exasperated, "have you _ever_ played _any_ games in your childhood at _all_?"

The guys gave her sheepish grins and shook their heads.

"Gosh!" Theresa flung her hands up in the air, giving them a look. "What _have_ you people been doing, then?"

"Messing around with the computer," Odie replied immediately, pulling out his laptop from under the couch just to show her; he had placed it there for safety purposes.

"Seeing if I look okay," Neil answered lazily at the same time, flashing her one of his trademark smiles.

Jay was tempted to reply with, "_Studying_," but he decided to keep his mouth shut. That was somewhat Atlanta's line; she had always been paranoid about doing badly for her tests. Anyway, something told him that it wouldn't serve to wipe that peeved look off Theresa's face.

He noticed that Archie remained silent and even looked a little detached and empty. But he dismissed it right away; Archie the grump. Normal behaviour for him. (A/N: Remind me to develop on this in later chapters, I might just forget.)

Theresa crossed her arms. "Well, then tonight's the night you learn some new things that you should have a long time ago. Now, Stool of Repentance goes like this: The chosen "victim" will leave the room and the rest will write something about him on a piece of paper and give it to someone to read aloud when the "victim" returns. For example, one might say he is handsome, another that he is clever, stupid or vain. Then the "victim" is then called back to sit on the stool, and one of the players will read out everything that has been described about him, like "One of us said you are cute, can you guess who?" If the victim guesses correctly, he gets to return to the circle, and the person who made the accusation takes the stool as the new "victim". If, however, the "victim" is unable to guess correctly, he must leave the room again and fresh charges are made against him."

She took a deep breath. "That was a long explanation, whew. Anyway, all of you got it?"

The team nodded.

"Okay," she said, seating herself down after setting a stool in the middle, "who do you think should go first?"

Everyone unanimously voted Neil.

"Why _me_ again?" Neil wailed in annoyance, then, at a scary look from Atlanta, got up reluctantly and grudgingly left the room.

Theresa handed out the slips of paper, and then there was a moment of silence except for the scratching of pencils as everyone bowed their heads to write. Then, all of them passed their pieces of paper to Odie to read - well, for no apparent reason.

"Neil, you can come in!" Atlanta called, trying to hide her smile. Ahem... She had a feeling that this was going to be fun.

Neil settled himself, his eyebrow raised a little. _He_ had a feeling that something was going to turn bad any minute now, judging from the looks on their faces. He might be a supermodel, but that didn't mean he didn't have a brain. That only meant that his brain was too full of himself and has nearly no space to think about anything else, that's all.

Odie took one look at the pieces of papers and burst out laughing. Holding one up, he started. "Someone said you're narcisstic, who do you think is that?"

Neil gave a cry. "What, _narcisstic_?" He looked around meanly, and his eyes came to rest on a laughing Archie. "_You_! You wrote that, didn't you?"

Archie gave him a mock serious look. "Me? Obviously not. I'm not _that_ mean. Try again."

Neil pouted, then glanced at Odie irritably, who was choking back his laughter. "What's so funny," he snapped, a little insulted - wait, _very_ insulted. "What's next?"

Odie started another round of laughter. "One of us said you're annoying, can you guess who?"

"_Annoying_?!" Neil was severely and thoroughly miffed. "Herry, was that you?"

Herry gave him a wide grin. "Nope, Neil, not me."

Neil narrowed his eyes and scanned the bunch of smiling faces, then pouted. "Never mind, continue," he dismissed, still eying them with mistrust.

Odie read, "Somebody called you egoistical - argh, why don't I read everything already?" Without waiting for Neil's response, which was currently an indignant expression, he continued, "This is what everyone said: Narcisstic, annoying, egoistical, arrogant, self-righteous and oh - ugly."

"Arrogant?! Self-righteous?! Oh my _gosh_! _Ugly_?! _UGLY_?! Did you say _ugly_?!" Neil shrieked, hands about to tear off his blond hair and almost falling off the stool. "_UGLY_?!"

"Uhmm..." Odie checked for the benefit of a poor, shrieking-at-the-top-of-his-lungs Neil. He sighed and shook his head sympathetically admist all the chuckling. "Yup. It says here. Ugly."

"Which one of you said that?" Neil suddenly turned quiet, turning around almost silently. Suddenly, not a whisper was heard. After all, an angry Neil was... an angry Neil. And an angry Neil could pierce one's eardrums, which equated to... Wait, it equated to not hearing any more of his boasting. Oh well.

"Don't dare to admit it, _do_ you?" Neil stuck out his bottom lip, a look of darkness passing over his eyes. The whole thing looked comical, but no one was about to laugh.

Atlanta finally broke the silence, and, dragging Neil off the stool, she reached over and gave Jay a little push. "Jay, you go," she said. "This guy's too traumatised to do anything else."

"Traumatised?" Neil burst out, waving his arms madly. "You'd think!"

Everyone ignored him.

Jay bit his lip, but not wanting to be a party pooper, he left the room shortly.

Again, everyone got to work at their new slips of paper. Meanwhile, Jay awaited with a sense of nervousness. What were they going to put? Obsessive? Paranoid? Gah. He didn't exactly want to know how did they _really_ feel about their leader. Ignorance is bliss, anyway.

Chewing at his bottom lip a little anxiously, he heard Theresa call, "Jay, you can come in now!"

Jay entered, plopped him down onto the stool, and stared at them awkwardly. Again, Odie was doing the reading.

Pushing his glasses up his nose, Odie began. "One of us thinks you're... Paranoid. Who do you think it is?"

Jay sighed. He _knew_ it. He would have gotten comments like this anyway. Feeling a little hurt, he frowned and crossed his arms. "Um... Atlanta?"

Atlanta shook her head. "Of course not."

Jay sighed again, shoulders drooping a little. "Okay, next one, Odie?"

"This one... This one says..." Odie squinted at the paper, which had supposedly tiny handwriting. Then he blushed slightly, grinning at the same time. "This one says you're cute. So, who do you think this -"

"Cute? Did you just say cute?" Jay said disbelievingly, his face already reddening. Ahem. He might have a clue to who exactly wrote that... But...

Odie squinted again, then affirmed it. "Yep, it says here. Cute."

Jay's face was a beetroot red by now. Great, did he _have_ to be tortured, and on _Christmas_ _night_ too? Both of the games had something to do with Theresa, and now here she was, popping up again in his life. Not that he didn't want her to. But he was being shamed. And in front of his friends, too! They wouldn't be so blind as to not notice that his face was flaming red, would they? Nope, they wouldn't.

His eyes auto-pilot drifted to Theresa, who was blinking at him innocently. If it was possible, Jay blushed harder and looked away instantly. Okay, bad idea to look at her.

Now, what should he do?

If he said it was Theresa, what if she said it _wasn't_? What if it had been Archie trying to pull his leg and gain the upper hand? Then _everyone_ would well and truly know and be confirmed that Jay liked Theresa, and no, he did _not_ want that happening.

But if he said no, wasn't he going to be skipping out on the greatest opportunity of all to get off the stool and scurry back to the circle? If he didn't, Theresa might get the wrong idea.

In both cases, it was a lose-lose situation. For the third time that night, Jay felt trapped. _Very_ trapped.

Noticing Archie sniggering, he glared at the purple-haired warrior. _Fine_. He wasn't going to take the chance. For tonight, it was war. War against Archie.

Pinching the bridge of his nose in embarrassment, he said, "I think I'll skip that."

"Can you actually skip?" Atlanta wondered aloud, directing her question to Theresa.

Theresa, in return, shrugged. Just like Jay to escape the situation and take the easiest way out. Oh well. She knew him - _too_ well. So well till she didn't exactly feel disappointed. Too much disappointment will - and had - lead to emptiness, and her emotions were now just so mellow...

"Okay, you can skip." Atlanta gave him the go-ahead to skip.

Jay gave them a weak grin, particularly Theresa to try and make it up to her in a sort-of I-don't-want-you-to-know-yet-but-yet-I'm-giving-you-this-look-to-tell-you-and-you-know-what-I'm-really-sorry look, but it didn't exactly work, possibly because it was too long and hid too many things for anyone to interpret _that_ much.

Odie cleared his throat and read aloud, "Dedicated. Hmm, who do you think said that?"

Jay smiled. Finally, an alright comment that didn't put him in a spot. He thought for a while, knowing it might be Odie or Herry, who were most of the time too nice to say anything against another person - well, except in Neil's case, as seen just now. "I think... Odie, did you write that?"

Odie blinked, then grinned. "Yeah, cool."

They exchanged places, and soon Odie left the room.

The game continued for a while, and then they had to stop due to time constraints. By then, Herry and Neil again had joined the stool. Neil was just sitting on the stool with a suspicious look on his face when Atlanta stopped the game. Of course, the reason why she had ended it was partly also because she was not about to let the scenario repeat again. You know, the earlier scenario.

Herry yawned, then rubbed his stomach. "What's next? I'm hungry."

Ignoring the last part of what Herry said, Atlanta spoke up. "Okay, guess, what do you think the next game will be?"

--

Truth or Dare, Truth or Dare! (: I know, I'm just tempting you. Well, hopefully you've gotten tempted. Ahaha. Anyway, I'll try to update tomorrow; right now, I have a piece of crushed Chinese homework staring at me. Ahem, I kinda crumpled it in my bag and when I was doing it in the bus. Whoops. My bad: There's no AxA in the above, because my brain cells were completely and utterly dead. But don't worry, there'll be more AxA to come soon. And after the games, we'll have _more_ surprises - I mean you're not forgetting the _party_ (with the food) itself, are you? Anyway, review, review, review!(:


	5. Murderer

For those of you who started on ominous thoughts when you saw the title, I apologise. But I've no choice, really, seeing that it's the name of the game! And don't worry, it doesn't nurse horrible intent. No one's going to be stabbing each other or something. No violence, be rest assured. Be rest assured... Anyway, I'm sure most of you have played it before, no? There will no or minimal romance here, and this is just a filler, but things are just about to get seriously exciting... Okay, so sit tight and read (and review!)

**Murderer**

Blank looks again. They were starting to get on her nerves. These guys seriously had no childhood. Missing out on all these games...

Atlanta sighed, then said, "Anyone heard of Murderer?"

Odie blinked, then pulled out his laptop and began searching the net. "Murderer, murderer..." he murmured, fingers flying across the keyboard until Atlanta nearly slammed the top of it on his fingers. "Hey!" he exclaimed in indignance, but Atlanta didn't pay any heed.

"Murderer is a game. It has many variations. For now, we're going to play the squeeze hands version." Realising that no one was going to show any form of acknowledgement since they were all pathetically clueless, except for Theresa, she went on. "Everyone sits in a circle and each gets a piece of paper. If you get one which says 'Murderer', that means that you'll be the murderer. If someone gets the 'Commoner' one, he'd have to play the commoner. There'll be a 'Detective' one, too, and the detective must try to guess who the murderer is. Finally, there'll be the 'Healer' one, of which the person gets to heal people who have been killed. There'll only be one murderer, healer and detective, and the rest are commoners.

"This is how you play it. First, everyone has to link hands and not show their hands. The murderer has to squeeze the hand of the person the number of times you need to go to kill the person. Uhm, okay, to be clearer, let me give you an example. If Archie is the murderer and he wants to kill, say, Neil for example, he'll pump my hand three times, and then I'll pump Theresa's hand two times, and then Theresa will pump Neil's hand one time, and if he feels that he's gotten one pump only, he knows he's dead and he has to shout it out.

"Then, the healer can heal people in the same way the murderer kills people, only they have to scratch your palm. The detective must observe and guess who is the killer, but he's only got three tries and if the healer and everyone is dead, no one else can be healed and the murderer wins. The detective can die of course, but can be healed as well."

"And the commoners?" questioned Odie, scratching his head and looking a little confused.

"The commoners are the people who just sit there and wait to be killed. Got it?" Atlanta said, grinning.

Odie winced at Atlanta's bluntness. "Ooh, that's nice," he commented sarcastically. "Yeah, I've got it anyway, more or less." The rest nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Theresa responded, taking the hat from behind her. She took one slip of paper for herself, just randomly, and then passed it on to Jay. "Take a slip of paper each."

Each of them took a paper for themselves, and then each read it - silently, of course.

Theresa blinked at the piece of paper, a little bit disappointed to play one of the lower roles - the commoner. Sighing, she looked around, curious to see how the others were reacting. All of them kept their faces nonchalant so as to not give the game away. She didn't feel like invading on their privacy with her powers right now, so she just leaned back and linked hands with Archie and Jay, who were both on either side of her.

She felt Archie pump her hand and her eyes widened as she counted the squeezes. _One, two._ Someone wanted to "kill" Jay.

Pouting, she pumped one into Jay's hand. Jay frowned, then called out, "I'm dead!"

Three seconds later, however, he called out again, "Uhm, I'm healed!"

Theresa observed Archie, whose face was taking on an annoyed look. He pumped into Theresa's hand again; she had a feeling he was the murderer. Well, usually the people beside the murderer could tell easily. _One, two..._

Theresa scowled a little in irration and pumped Jay's hand once again. Jay frowned again, then said, "Okay, I'm dead again."

About five seconds later, he said again, "_Okaay_... I'm healed again."

Archie scowled noticeably, and angrily pumped into Theresa's hand. Wincing, she "relayed" the message to Jay, who glared at the people on the other side.

"What's your problem? Do you _have_ to keep killing me?"

Herry spoke up. "Uh... Does that mean you're dead?"

Jay gave him a look. "What do you think?"

"Uhh, no?"

"Yes! _Yes_, I'm dead already!" Jay almost wanted to fling his hands up. Did they _have_ to target him?

A minute later, and Atlanta cried out dramatically, "Oh no, I've just died!"

Theresa felt Jay scratch her palm. "Oh, that tickles!" She giggled lowly, then scratched Archie's palm. _One, two, three._

Atlanta said a while later, "Okay, I'm alive again."

Theresa felt a pump. Oh. "I'm dead," she declared.

"I'm dead," Jay proclaimed a minute later. Theresa raised her eyebrows. The pumping must have come from the other side, then.

"I'm dead," Neil cried out a few seconds later.

Jay delivered two scratches to Theresa's hand, of which she immediately reacted, scratching Archie's palm and trying not to giggle due to the tickly feeling.

"I'm healed," Archie announced. "And I'm not even dead."

"Whoops. I've got the wrong perso-" Herry stopped halfway. "Uh, I meant the _murderer_ must have gotten the wrong person."

"Where is the stupid detective, anyway?" Odie complained. "I think _everyone_ already knows - or can guess - who the murderer and healer are for a long time already."

"Hmm?" Neil looked up from his mirror, of which he had lain on the floor to look at himself, since he didn't have the ready "assistance" from his hands.

"Neil!" Theresa said, giving him a narrowed-eye look. "Please don't say you're the detective!"

Before he could reply, Archie scowled again, looking mad and angry. "What the - someone just killed me!"

"And why isn't that possible?" Atlanta said sweetly. "You could have killed yourself, if you did two rounds and missed Neil." For Archie was sitting next to Neil.

"Uhm, no way, that's not possible!" Archie yelled, forgetting that he was supposed to keep his "alter-ego" a secret. "I pumped 14!"

He pulled away from Neil's and Theresa's hands and began to count using his fingers. "14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8... Oh shoot! I pumped wrongly!"

Seeing the look everyone was giving him, he suddenly realised that he'd revealed his not-so-secret secret. Struggling to cover up his blown-big mistake, he stammered, "Oops. I mean, uhhh. The murderer... Must have wanted to kill me instead of Neil! Uhh... Uhh!"

Theresa rolled her eyes. "Who _is_ the detective?"

"Detective? What detective?" Neil asked, looking like he couldn't care less.

Theresa let go of Jay's hand and crossed her arms. Then, placing her hands firmly on the ground and bending forward to pick up Neil's paper, she reached out to grab it. "Okay, let me see that!"

"No!" Neil let out a cry. "You're not supposed to see it, Atlanta said so herself!" Snatching the paper off the ground and, placing it behind him, he sat on it.

Theresa groaned, then went back to her original seat. "What in the _world_ is happening? Where's the detective?"

Atlanta sighed, detaching her hands from Neil's and Odie's. "Alright, game over. Everyone, say who you are for the benefit of everyone else. I'll begin. Commoner."

Odie went, "Commoner."

Herry answered, "Healer."

"Commoner," started Jay.

"Commoner!" quipped Theresa.

Archie grinned and said sheepishly, "Murderer."

Neil looked up. "Hmm, me? Detective."

"_Neil_!" went everyone almost instantly.

"What?!" Neil answered with the same amount of indignance. "I was _trying_ to lie low first! But you guys kept threatening to bust my secret!"

Atlanta winced inwardly, beckoning them to give back the slips of paper. "You know what, I think we'd better change the game."

"Yeah, good idea," Odie replied, handing his in.

--

Okay, a short, light-hearted chapter for no good reason! Hope you understood how the game was played, I know I was pretty unclear there. Couldn't have done it any more unclear than I have. Ugh. My apologies. Anyway, here's where things get exciting! Stay tuned and review, because it more or less magically quickens everything up!(: And the next shall be the hopefully long-awaited one, with more action, definitely.(: Hope this one was humorous enough for your liking, though.


	6. Truth or Dare

Okay, here it is. This chapter will have, yes, J/T and A/A, don't worry. Well, it'll be a lot of J/T and some A/A, but you'd be happy to know that the next chapter will balance both of the pairings - well, sort of. This whole story was inspired by just thinking of a game called **Truth or Truth** in an immersion programme last time. In that variation, you have to select truth, seeing there's no other option and yes, I kinda admit I enjoyed that game and weirdly so, I haven't forgotten it yet. So I will say a muted thanks to **Matt**, someone who isn't even exactly my _friend_, who was the one who started it all with the game. Not that he'll ever come to hear of this, no, of course not. Anyway, time to continue the story!

**Truth or Dare**

"Anyone happen to hear of Truth or Dare before?" Theresa asked aloud questioningly, and was heartened to see looks of recognition spark the guys' faces.

"I've played it before," Archie announced a little too triumphantly, raising his index finger and grinning.

"I think we all have," Odie said, deciding not to touch his laptop for the time being. After all, Atlanta had slammed the laptop cover onto his fingers just a while ago, and a little bit of the pain still lingered. He obviously wasn't going to attempt it again; he'd learnt his lesson.

Everyone nodded at what Odie said.

"Alright, so let's roll!" Theresa grinned, a little excited to see where this game would go. If she wasn't wrong, she'd have _someone_ at her mercy. This was the game she had been waiting for all along. She wondered if she'd face disappointment again, but she knew she had to hope. After all, the anticipation was there. All she needed was a little hope... And a little luck. Too bad it all flew to Neil.

"Who wants to start?" Atlanta began, her eyes settling on Neil again.

"Nope, nope, not me, not _this_ time," Neil huffed, then pointed to Herry. "Let _him_ start for once, or Odie or something."

"Um... Okay... Truth." Herry said, scratching his head ruefully.

"What's your greatest fear?" Atlanta said, just curious to know. Herry might be strong and all, but everyone has their own fears.

Herry thought for awhile. Then he grinned, a little embarrassed. "Maybe losing my teddy bear?"

"Losing your _teddy bear_?" Archie's eyes widened. "Isn't that a little too... I don't know, _un_-scary?"

"I don't think so," Atlanta mused quietly, grinning all the while. "I do remember _someone_ told me he had a stuffed bunny at home that'll he'd actually cry if he lost...!"

Archie blushed and was about to shoot back a retort, but in the end closed his mouth. He didn't want to say something that he would regret and make him more embarrassed.

"My turn. Uhm. Truth." Odie awaited someone's question.

Archie smirked. "Who was your first love?"

"What?" Odie answered, a little shocked at the question. He had been prepared to spill secrets, say the most embarrassing thing he'd ever done, but then he hadn't been prepared for a question like that.

"Uhm... Well... It was this girl named Tessa..." Odie started, rubbing his neck a little in embarrassment.

"Did you just say Theresa?" Herry asked, having heard wrongly. His words elicited a glare from Jay.

"He said _Tessa_," he replied a little too sharply, looking a little defensive. Herry blinked, feeling surprised at Jay's snappishness. He wondered why.

"Uhm, yeah, I said Tessa," Odie said, holding out his hands. "Not _Theresa_." He was aware of how Jay was acting, and he was pretty sure it had something to do with... Well. Anyway, he made sure he wanted to make it obvious that he wasn't attempting to tread on _someone's_ territory.

Theresa blinked as well, following the exchange with some understanding.

"Anyway. It was this girl named Tessa. She was a blonde, yeah, and she was pretty smart, and she was a..." Odie continued, trying to ease the tension that had just settled in because of Herry's mistake.

Neil effectively broke the ice. "Bimbo? Nerd?"

Odie glared at the blonde. "No! She was alright, really. Not a bimbo, not a nerd, not a goth, not an emo-kid, just... Normal. And she was pretty nice."

Neil yawned. "And let me guess, she didn't like you."

Odie gave Neil a peeved look. "Uh. Yeah. But you didn't need to be so direct about it...!"

Atlanta cut in to stop an argument from rising. Being the host sure was tiring. "Okay, enough. We only have time to go one round before we start the next game, so let's move on. Okay, I pick dare."

"Why did you pick dare, it's the hardest to think of," Archie complained, scowling.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Atlanta stuck out her tongue at him.

"Well yeah," he said, giving her an evil, dark look. "I want to think of something that's terrifyingly hard for you to do."

Atlanta was beginning to regret taking up on a dare, but she said nevertheless, "Oh yeah? I'm sure I'll be able to do it anyway."

Jay grinned. He was feeling a little naughty, but he wasn't sure he dared to. He swallowed. He wanted to get revenge on Archie so badly, and yes, see the both of his friends together, but then it wasn't advisable. Atlanta - and Archie - would have his head on a platter the next day.

Luckily, he didn't need to think far, for Theresa spoke up. "Okay, then, Lanta, I dare to kiss Archie."

There was silence for a moment. It was pretty obvious that that kind of dare had been residing in everyone's minds but nobody had dared to say it. Well, save for Theresa.

Archie gaped. Atlanta gaped, then screeched in horror, "What?!"

Theresa smiled smugly, then winked at her friend. "You said you were up for the challenge."

Atlanta's eyes widened. Was this something to do with Theresa lately asking her if she felt anything for Archie? Maybe she was trying to play matchmaker. She would have felt angry, but right now, she didn't - and she didn't even know why. She felt a little... Apprehensive. Excited. Atlanta shook her head, wondering what in the world had seized her mind. Oh, and her heart too, as well as her stomach - that light fluttery feeling that she'd felt when she encountered Pan, only this one was much, much stronger...

Atlanta gulped. _I'll get over this quickly_, she decided in her head.

Stalking over to stock-still and red Archie and dropping to her knees, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She then turned to Theresa imploringly.

Theresa grinned. Trying her luck, she pushed, "That isn't a proper kiss, Lannie, you know what I meant."

"_What_?!" Atlanta said again, feeling a little desperate, but not willing to give up the challenge. Bending down and making it quick, she actually kissed Archie on the lips. "Better _now_?"

Herry smiled. "Yeah, way better."

Archie, meanwhile, currently had an awe-struck expression on his face, and his eyes were somewhat dilated and unfocused. And he, the poor guy, was in heaven. Well, dreaming that he was. Jay didn't want to even think of what the residential closet poet might be thinking now. Probably some mushy poem for his red-haired friend. Jay shuddered a little.

Atlanta sat down, her head still whirling. What had just happened? And where had it all gone? It had just whizzed by so quickly, she hadn't even processed it at all. Still thinking, her face turned red when she realised the full intensity of what just happened and she bowed her head, feeling as though the whole world was staring at her. What in the _world_ was going on with her?

"Hmm, next me. I pick truth," Neil replied, stretching and then picking up his mirror again.

Jay rolled his eyes. "What's your most embarrassing moment ever?" he asked, curious to know if model-boy over there had any embarrassing encounters before.

Neil straightened up, then said sheepishly, "Uhm, well, when I was six, this agent recognised my talent and he came to me. He asked me for my contacts and everything, and one fine day, he decided to use me for the latest magazine for kids, seeing that I was such a cute little kid. And then..."

Theresa grimaced. "Okay, okay, Neil, cut the long story short. What was so embarrassing about it?"

Neil closed his eyes and gave an aggravated sigh. "Well, during one of the photoshoots, see, I was urgent, and I couldn't wait, so... I... uhm, wet my pants."

Odie burst out laughing. "Guess that happens a lot?" he teased. (A/N: See **Confession**, another one of my fics.)

It was Neil's turn to glare at him. "No it does not!" he retorted, crossing his arms dramatically. "Other than that, I've got almost nothing else. Hmm, except for that Christmas when I forgot to wish for pants in the mall. And..." His face took on a pale shade, "Zeus and Jay saw it!" (A/N: See **the Game Plan**, one of the episodes.)

Jay grinned. "Yeah we did. Shoulda took a picture of that," he kidded. Neil's pale face made him immediately add, "Of course, I was just joking."

Archie was still dreaming and Theresa had to shout in his ear to get him to "return" to the game. "Hello? Archie? Archie! Down to earth, Archie!"

"Wha-at?" Archie said, a goofy expression still fixed on his face, and his eyes were still riveted on Atlanta.

Theresa smiled secretly, feeling pleased at her achievement. Hopefully, this would send the two lovebirds together. Now all she needed to bother with was her own lovelife, which currently wasn't yielding much harvest. Sneaking a look at Jay, she sighed, then turned back to Archie.

"Your turn."

"Oh, my turn." Archie said like a doofus. He giggled as though he was on drugs. "_Ohkayyy_, I pick truth."

Jay winced at Archie's silliness. Now he knew the one thing that could turn the hot-headed, headstrong warrior to mush. A fair-haired maiden's kiss. Or rather, a red-headed, similarly hot-tempered huntress' kiss.

Neil paused, then asked, "What's your deepest, darkest secret?"

Jay waited for the answer. It would probably take the form of something like this: Oh, I like Atlanta. Or something along those lines. And he could have his revenge, two times in a row! Right now, he had just gained the upper-hand again. For Archie, the kiss had reduced him to a stuttering wreck. Anyway, he didn't know why, but he felt uncharacteristically battle-inclined today, even though it was Christmas.

Archie's face darkened for a while, then he crossed his arms. "I don't have any family," he muttered darkly, lowering his face.

"Really?" Herry asked half-jokingly. After all, Archie had never mentioned this fact.

"Well yeah!" Archie replied in annoyance, looking angry. "Gee, you'd think I'd joke about something like that! Yes! I am a orphan, a self-declared orphan and a worldwide-declared orphan! Are you happy now?"

Jay's jaws dropped. He'd never expected something like that from Archie, who had always hid all his secrets away. Of the whole gang, Jay knew the least of him, and even Atlanta, he could guess, hadn't known this, for she was looking shocked and upset for Archie. Jay, feeling a little guilty for thinking about waging war against Archie in a time so serious as this, opened his mouth to speak. "Why... Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Archie scowled. "Well... It's not something I'd like to share, is it?" He sighed and shut his eyes, probably thinking of those horrendous moments back then. "I was an orphan. I grew up in an orphanage, alone. Bullied. Hiding in a closet and writing poems. That's how I lived my life. It isn't exactly something I'd want to broadcast."

He paused and the rest waited since they could tell that something was coming next. "I've never told anyone this. I didn't want to tell you guys because I didn't want you guys to go all sympathizing on me. Oh, what with all the 'Oh dear, he's an orphan. Come on, let's rally our love and shower it on him, the poor neglected guy.' I didn't want pity nor sympathy. I don't need it."

Archie stopped again. Then he murmured in a low tone, "And I didn't have any friends. Only you guys. I don't want that to change - ever."

Again, for the second time, Jay felt struck by a sense of warmth enveloping his heart. He was well and truly touched. His friends all came from different backgrounds and all, but yet they were all so close. They _were_ a family.

He reached over and patted Archie's back. "And that's not going to change, not if I can help it."

"Me too," Odie added.

"Me three," Herry put in.

"All of us," Theresa replied, smiling gently. "Even Neil."

"_Me_?" Neil squeaked.

"Yeah, you." Atlanta glared at the blonde.

Archie grinned slightly. "Yeah, I guessed you guys would say as much. You know what, you guys are good friends. The best," he admitted. "Not that you heard me say that. Okay, Theresa, you next. Which will it be, truth or dare?"

Theresa thought for awhile, then deciding against doing a dare because it would be way too risky, judging from Atlanta's evil look, she said, "Truth."

Jay figured he'd take a break and not embarrass himself here, so he just leaned back on the wall and remained silent. Hoping that he'd wouldn't be targeted, he glanced over at Archie. Archie was emotionless, probably serious from revealing his secret, but Atlanta's shining eyes said otherwise.

"Theresa, when did _you_ have your first love?"

Theresa blinked at the question. Then she replied softly, "Two years ago."

Everyone nearly choked. After all, _everyone_ knew that the team had come together two years ago. And in other words, that was the time Theresa had met Jay. She was openly confessing her feelings, only in a more indirect way! And the other thing was that Theresa was mighty pretty and all. Wouldn't she have dated other guys and all, and fallen in love here and there?

"Uhh. Haven't you, like, dated anyone yet?" Odie chose his words carefully.

Theresa shrugged. "Yeah, and I've had crushes before, but I found I never loved any of them." She glanced wistfully to one side. "And they never loved me back. Not that I've ever gotten any since my mum died..."

"So... You love this guy?" Archie, regaining his naughty streak, shot a look at Jay, who pretended not to notice.

"Yeah, lonerboy... I do. If only... If only he loved me back, too..." Theresa answered, her voice shaking a little. She glanced over at Jay at the same time he did, their eyes met, and then both simultaneously looked away at the same time.

There was tension in the air, and Atlanta made a move to once again dispel the heavy atmosphere.

"Theresa, I'm sure he does, only he hasn't told you yet," Atlanta said, shooting Jay a meaningful glance, of which he awkwardly met. "Um, well, Jay, you're next... What do you pick? Truth, or dare?"

"Truth," Jay responded immediately. He certainly wasn't going to put himself at risk doing a dare, seeing what they could do was terrifying.

Archie, seeing that no one had spoken up, said quietly, "I know everyone's being meaning to ask this, and Theresa has as well. For the benefit of our drama queen, I'm going to ask you. Do you love her?"

Silence, absolute silence. No one even dared to breathe. This was the silence-est the day could ever get. Even Jay himself had stopped breathing.

He didn't know what to say. He was stumped. Yes, he did. He loved her. He loved her! But he couldn't tell her, not now. Not when Cronus was still lurking around, threatening to use his love for her to his advantage. The last thing he wanted to do was start a serious relationship with her and put her life on the line. Yet she had been waiting, and he feared her patience was wearing thin. He didn't know what to do, what to say, and he didn't want the whole team to know. Yet, seeing the longing look on her face, he knew he was going to break her heart soon if he didn't. He was the last one in the round to play the Truth or Dare, and now everyone was staring at him, awaiting his response.

He swallowed, then made a decision. After what seemed like years passing, he finally said it aloud.

"Yes, I do. I love her."

Then another round of silence. Everyone blinked, trying to get it into their system that their serious, down-to-earth leader had actually just admitted what he had been hiding for two long years, not to mention say it in front of all of them. Even Odie had a hard time grasping it all.

Finally, Archie broke the silence. "Did... Did you just... Just say what I think I heard you say?" he asked in a low tone, an incredulous look gracing his face.

"Yes," Jay said quietly, yet in the same way, clearly. "I said I love her."

Avoiding her eyes, he quickly got to his feet, not sure of what to do next. "You... You guys start the next game without me first. I'll... I'll just go to the... restroom now."

He moved quickly, and Theresa watched as he walked down the hall and disappeared without another word.

--

Here it is. I hope you guys liked it, the tension, everything. The next one will be more A/A, J/T, yeah. The lot of it. Anyway, review. Did you like it? Again, I reiterate that I hoped you did, because this is the most serious tone I've ever written for, and I'm wondering how it turned out...


	7. Hide and Seek

Another chapter coming right up! Okay, this chapter is more on the random side. And no, **Hide and Seek** isn't only for little kids.(: Well at least I hope that you don't think it that way. Anyway, what happened to the inner child thing? We should let it come out once in a while. Okay, I think shall stop talking random nonsense and begin.

Oh yeah and an early Happy Birthday to **lepidopteran**!

**Hide and Seek**

Everyone was still pretty stunned from Jay's actual confession and all of them were staring at Theresa, who felt a little embarrassed. She herself was overwhelmed by the sudden change of events, but in her heart lingered a warmth, rekindled by what he had said. _Did someone really love her in that way?_ After spending so much alone time and with fake friends who only liked her because she was a rich kid, she didn't know if her heart could take any more hits if she'd heard wrongly, or he'd said wrongly.

But he had repeated it two times, didn't he?

And Jay wasn't the sort to bluff his way through everything. And he _had_ sounded sincere, after all.

Atlanta cleared her throat, then said awkwardly, "Uh, okay, the next game will be Hide and Seek. You guys happen to hear of it before?"

Neil's eyes widened. "Isn't that game for _kids_?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

Atlanta shot him the death glare. "Don't you have, like, some inner child in you?"

Neil yawned and leaned back on the wall, closing his eyes, much to Atlanta's frustration. "Hmm? No."

"How are we going to play Hide and Seek in _here_?" Odie questioned, looking a little taken aback as he tried to think of possible places to hide.

"We're not," Atlanta said triumphantly, but Neil broke into her sentence.

"Oh, yay, it's cancelled?" he questioned hopefully.

"No!" Atlanta wanted to go up to him and strangle him. "We'll be playing in the park."

"Jay asked us to start without him first," Herry stated. "Does this mean we go first?"

"Uh, maybe we should wait for him." Atlanta frowned. Personally, she didn't exactly want to wait and get stuck in another bout of awkwardness and tension. But she would feel bad if she'd left their trusty leader behind. "He might get lost or something, and he won't know where to go."

"I'll stay behind," Theresa voluntered, quickly getting to her feet. "I'll wait for Jay and we'll go together."

_As if the night couldn't get any more tension-filled,_ Archie thought with a shudder. "Umm, I guess that'll be okay."

With that, Theresa made sure the rest of the group had left before she started down the hall to look for Jay. She needed some answers.

--

Jay gazed at the door of the restroom. His hand rested lightly on the doorknob and he hesitated. Truth be known, he hadn't really needed the toilet, he had just needed to get away. Not for forever, but just for a while. He needed to think and plan his next step. He didn't want to fumble and botch his job as a leader, seeing that he was already doing a pretty bad job of it all.

A hand suddenly touched his shoulder and he almost jumped out of his skin. Turning around quickly, he saw Theresa there.

"Uhm... You need to use the toilet too?" he asked dumbly, then realised what a doofus he had just made himself sound.

Theresa laughed softly and responded, "Well, no."

"Then... Uh..." Jay blushed, scratching his head. "I'll... I'll go in first." His mind was whirling. He didn't know what to do. He was going to freeze up and die if he didn't get away right now. He needed to think about what to tell her first.

He opened the door and was just about to step in when Theresa spoke.

"You don't really want to use the toilet, do you?" she spoke softly, her voice almost a whisper, but then he somehow could hear it loud and clear. "You just don't want to face me."

Jay stopped and turned around, cringing. "No, of course not!" Seeing Theresa rub her eyes tearfully, he winced. _Oh no, he'd just made her cry._

At that same time, Theresa felt crushed. So what if he was willing to admit it? He might never want to face up to it. She didn't know what to expect from him anymore. Then...

"It's not that I don't love you, or love you any less," Jay said honestly, rubbing the nape of his neck a little in embarrassment. "It's just that I need to think. About us."

Theresa blushed. "What _is_ it about us that you need to think about?"

"Everything," Jay admitted. "We can't... We can't be together, Theresa. Not now."

There. He had said it.

Theresa's shocked look reflected how she felt. "...Why?" She looked hurt.

"Because Cronus is still around, and I know him. He may be unpredictable, but it's pretty obvious that he'd target you once he sees you're the most precious to me." Jay put his hands on her shoulders, sighing. "I don't want you to get hurt, or put your life on the line. I can't, and I won't."

Theresa's features softened, and she smiled. That was so _sweet_ of Jay! So he had been thinking of her welfare after all... But he was overreacting. She knew he had a point there, but he shouldn't have let that gotten in the way of their relationship.

"Jay..." She was about to protest when he stopped her.

"Maybe we should talk about this later," he suggested. "I'm sure the rest of them are waiting for us."

"Hmm... Yeah..." Theresa agreed reluctantly.

Just as she was about to turn around, Jay gently pulled her in a hug. The orange-haired girl's eyes widened and she blushed, but she still snuggled deeply into his warm sweater. She didn't expect him to plant a quick kiss on the top of her head, but he did.. She felt surprised at his show of affection, but she felt happy. For the first time in years, she felt loved. And they stayed like this for a while.

After what seemed like an eternity, they broke away. "I think we'd better hurry. What game is next?" Jay asked.

"Hide and Seek. We're doing it in the park," Theresa explained. "Yeah, let's go. They're probably thinking that the toilet bowl swallowed you up."

Jay chuckled. "Very funny," he responded, and together the two turned to go to the park.

--

"Okay, who wants to play the seeker?" Atlanta asked, eyes scanning the four guys standing in front of her.

"Ooh, me, me!" Neil said eagerly.

Atlanta gave him a look. "No way," she snapped. "If you are the seeker, then we'd all be waiting for you to find us till daylight. I think we should hide now and let Theresa and Jay be the seekers."

"Yeah," Archie sniggered. "Let the two lovebirds be together."

"But that's not fair!" Neil whined. "I wanted to be the seeker! I said so first!"

"And who's the host of this game?" Atlanta said chillingly, taking a menacing first step towards Neil, who promptly shut up.

"Okay, let's hide now." Archie pointed to the thick forestation. "Odie, Herry, you guys take the east and Neil, Lannie and I will hide somewhere to the west. Got it?"

"Yeah," Herry answered. "Come on, let's go, little guy."

Odie crossed his arms in annoyance at his nickname but still went off to hide.

Atlanta pulled out her PMR to text Theresa, informing her that they'd be the catchers. Then, Archie, Neil and her tromped through the foresty part of the park.

"Ouch!" Neil glared at a tree branch, which had jabbed him in the arm. "That hurts!" Then, "Argh!" he screamed when he saw a spider crawling on a web.

"Oh, keep it down, would you, Neil?" Archie nearly yelled. "We're going to be found if you keep that up!"

"And we're going to be found if the _both_ of you keep that same volume!" Atlanta whispered harshly. "Why did you even put him on our team anyway?"

Neil glared at Atlanta. "What do you mean by _that_?" he screeched in irritation.

"Sshh!" Archie and Atlanta went immediately.

After finding a thick bush, Atlanta pushed Neil down. "Sit here and hide," she said in a commanding voice.

"What? But it's so itchy!" Neil cried irrately, scratching his arm. "I'm going to get problem skin at this rate!"

The two ignored him and trooped deeper into the woods.

"Uhm, Lannie? How much further are you planning on going?" Archie said a little nervously.

"What, you're not scared of getting _lost_, are you, Archie?" Atlanta smirked. She pulled out her PMR. "Aren't you forgetting this?"

"Uhm, no. Nevermind." Archie gulped, though. He felt a little queasy for no good reason, and he decided to ignore the feeling.

Suddenly, Atlanta gave a cry, causing him to turn around sharply. She had just tripped over an idle tree branch lying on the floor and he caught her just in time.

"Are you okay?" Archie asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Atlanta said, pulling out of his arms awkwardly. She winced when she set her right foot down. "Ouch."

"Did you sprain it?" Archie bent down to get a better look at her knee. He pulled out his PMR to use as a source of light. True enough, her knee had swollen. "You've sprained it."

"I have? Oh great," Atlanta groaned. "I think I can walk," she said quickly before Archie could ask her.

She tried a few steps, but it was way too painful. She couldn't believe she'd actually sprained her knee on Christmas. What bad luck. Maybe she should have dragged Neil along with them after all.

"You can't walk, can you?" Archie glanced around, feeling a little apprehensive. There wasn't anyone around except him to help. "Well, at least count yourself lucky that you have me around."

Atlanta laughed shakily. "Yeah." She smiled at him, then looked down at her foot. "Now what do we do now? How am I going to get back?"

Archie thought for a while, then said resolutely, "I know! I'll piggyback you."

"_What_?" Atlanta asked, feeling shy all of a sudden around her own best friend.

"Yeah!" Archie said defensively. "I have to. You can't walk back, can you?"

"Uhm... Well, yeah..." Atlanta said hesitantly. She glanced at her purple-haired friend. "Alright," she replied, giving in. "But you'd better not drop me."

"Good idea," Archie joked, then he bent over, letting Atlanta get onto his back. She was quite light, but Archie grunted a little at the weight all the same. Feeling her arms go around his neck, he blushed, straightened a little and grabbed her legs gently. Then, together, they pitched forward.

"I think we should get out of the forest first, then it'll be easier," Atlanta suggested, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks. Thankfully, it was pretty dark and she was on his back, so he wouldn't be able to see her blushing.

"That's what I'm trying to do," Archie shot back, sweating a little from the exertion. It wasn't exactly easy to piggyback someone, he realised.

They walked on quietly, or at least Archie was doing all the walking and Atlanta was just doing all the easy work. Then Atlanta suddenly blurted out what was on her mind. "Archie? Do you love me?"

"Huh?" Archie came to a halt, almost dropping her in surprise at her question and immediately became a dumb, bumbling fool. "Uhm. Well. I... Uh..."

Atlanta blushed at her question. What in the _world_ had possessed her to say such a thing?! This Christmas was really making her wonky. She shook her head to clear it, then paused, waiting for Archie's answer. The damage had already been done, and she might as well hear his reply.

"I..." Archie stuttered, lurching forward in an attempt to make some progress in getting out of the park. He didn't know whether to say it. It had been two long years for him as well, not just for Jay and Theresa, and if Jay could be so brave as to say his true feelings for Theresa, then why couldn't he? He swallowed nervously, feeling as though his throat had some foreign object wedged in it. Jay was the courageous leader, of course. Archie himself paled in comparison to him. That's why.

"Archie? Are you still there?" Atlanta asked, her voice a little quiet and confused.

"Yeah... Yeah. I love you, Lannie."

Archie blinked at what he had said. He hadn't even seen that coming. He had uttered those words without even thinking! He didn't know whether to be thankful for his stupidity or to be shocked and scared at how their friendship would soon do a three-hundred degree turn next.

He felt surprised when Atlanta hugged his neck. "I do too."

"You... You do?" Archie stopped in his tracks again, shocked and disbelieving. He had never thought Atlanta would ever, ever like him. Of course, he'd had his dreams, but then why would anyone like a purple-haired, orphaned, grumpy closet poet? Oh, Theresa would just laugh at his insecurity if she had been there to read his mind.

"Yeah I do." came her answer. "What, you don't believe me?" He winced, envisioning her behind him glaring at the back of his head at his mistrust.

"Um, no, I do, I do believe you," he answered quickly, a little fearful that her newfound love for him would fade in her anger. He didn't want to destroy the moment.

"Well, okay..." He felt Atlanta relax. "But I have no idea why I suddenly asked you that question, or told you that... That I loved you."

"Me neither," Archie agreed, grinning. "You are so unfathomable and - _Ow_!"

"Archie," she said in mock anger after successfully hitting him. Anyway, she was right behind him, so it just made it all the easier. "You're insufferable."

"I know, haha - _ouch_!"

--

"Did you hear that?" Theresa muttered.

"Hear what? Oh, you mean my stomach growling?" Herry asked. "I'm hungry."

"No, no, not _that_," Odie said. "You know, the rustle of that bush."

"Yeah, that's what I meant, Herry," Theresa said, grinning.

"Whoops," Herry responded sheepishly.

So far, Theresa and Jay had found Herry and Odie. Herry had been hiding behind a huge rock while Odie had been hiding behind a tree and they had been pretty near each other, so it had been not too difficult to source them out.

"Sshh..." Jay said as they neared the bush. "It's probably one of them hiding."

They paused three feet from the bush, then Jay signalled for Herry to move. Herry, acting quickly, shot to the bush and picked up... a snoring Neil.

Odie rolled his eyes. "Didn't get enough sleep, did he?" he quipped. "He was yawning the whole night anyway."

"Neil, hello?" Herry shook the poor blonde awake.

"Wha-what?" Neil awoke with a start. Then, looking at his arms like everyone was, he let out a bloodcurdling, piercing scream. "My arms!"

"Yeah, your arms," Jay said dryly, coming closer to take a look. There were red bumps all over Neil's exposed skin. "You must have gotten rashes."

"I knew it!" Neil shouted, voice growing more and more high-pitched. "I knew I felt itchy, but oh _no_, Atlanta and Archie just _had_ to force me to stay there!" The blonde fumed angrily, wailing at the same time, "_Now_ I've got problem skin!"

Odie rolled his eyes and came over too to take a look as Herry placed the distraught Neil down on the ground, firmly on his feet. "Hmm... Looks serious to me."

"I _know_!" Neil cried.

"Don't touch him, Odie," Theresa warned jokingly. "It might be _infectious_!"

Neil, who was busy clawing at his hair, stopped clawing. "Oh _no_! What if my _head_ gets the rashes?!"

"I'm sure it will," Jay kidded, then regretted it when Neil let out a strangled scream that just about shattered everyone's eardrums. "I was _kidding_. Don't worry so much, I'm sure Chiron will be able to ease your rashes."

"Yeah, Chiron would be able to," Herry affirmed, slapping Neil on the back to console him.

"Did you see where Atlanta and Archie went?" Theresa questioned, looking around. "I would use my psychic sense, but that would be cheating."

"Yeah, they went further down, deeper into the woods." Neil pointed.

Just then, everyone saw Archie emerging from the deeper part of the forest with Atlanta on his back.

Theresa frowned and ran to meet him. "Atlanta! What happened to you?"

"Nothing much," Atlanta said weakly, giving her a small smile. "Sprained my leg, that's all."

"Another casuality, and Cronus isn't even around," Jay said, biting his lip. Everyone glared at him and he grinned sheepishly. "Okay, okay, I get you guys."

Atlanta gave Theresa a nudge and whispered in her ear when Archie let her off his back for a while to rest his aching back. "Hey, I've got a lot to tell you later!"

"Oh! Something happened in the woods, didn't it?" Theresa squealed excitedly and held Atlanta as the red-haired girl stood on one foot. "Well, I've got something to tell you too! I'll tell you later as well..."

"Atlanta? Jay wants us to start moving to the school for the Christmas party, so get on my back now, would you?" Archie said, walking over and feeling a little suspicious to see the two girls exchanging conspiratorial looks.

"Alright," Atlanta replied, and she swiftly got onto Archie's back once more.

And together, as a team, they left for the school for the party and for the sake of Atlanta's throbbing, swollen knee and the screaming Neil.

--

Okay, here's the end of this chapter. I hope it wasn't OOC; I have a feeling some characters here weren't exactly acting like themselves. And I also hope both the A/A and J/T fans are pleased enough! The next chapter will be the last game, but it doesn't end there. It is a sort-of filler, and then about one more chapter and this fic is done.


	8. The No Game

I'm back again with another update. I would like to thank everyone who has been faithfully reviewing, I really appreciate it.(: This is the last game, I'm sad to say. Before I begin, I would like to say a few things pertaining to this story:

**xx-fazzems-xx**, it's okay, you can ask me to update as much as you like, I won't clog on the head for asking too much. Hopefully, though, I'm updating fast enough for you.(:

**Paradox-Barbarian-Princess**, good question about the inclusion of the exchanging of gifts. I've thought of that, but I'm not sure whether I should write that, and since I haven't gotten to that chapter yet (but will soon), I've left it as that.

Alright, I shall start the story now.(:

**The No Game**

"Ouch!" Atlanta bit her lip to stop herself from crying out loud as she winced from the pain. Theresa had been trying to bandage her wounded leg as carefully and gently as she could, but the contact between the bandage and her swollen leg was still enough cause for pain. They were in Persephone's solarium because they hadn't been able to find Chiron, who was probably helping out with the last-minute preparations for the party. The others had also likewise gone off to help, of course Archie went with much reluctance after reassurance from Theresa, who had promptly walked into Persephone down the hall and then quickly asked for bandages, which Persephone thankfully had. It was quiet, and only the two girls were in the room - besides the Horae, that is.

"Is it better now?" Theresa asked, worried for her friend. The swelling had gone down, but she was still worried.

"Yeah, much better," Atlanta replied, smiling and gently to her feet slowly. "Hey, and it doesn't hurt half as bad as just now. I think I can walk."

"Are... Are you sure?" Theresa questioned a little suspiciously. "After all, you did respond pretty loudly when I wrapped your leg up..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Atlanta dismissed Theresa with a wave of her hand. "That was only because the bandages touched my injury. Besides, I'm used to this. I get this all the time."

"Okay..." Theresa blinked, still a little disbelieving, but she knew how headstrong Atlanta was. Trying to stop her would be virtually useless, anyway. She'd have to ask Chiron about it if they ever found him later, which they probably would. Changing the subject quickly to the one of her interest, she said excitedly, "Okay, so now that I know you're okay, spill everything about what happened between you and Archie in that dark, _dark_ part of the woods..."

Noticing Theresa's emphasis on the word 'dark' and that mischievous, teasing smile on Theresa's face, Atlanta grinned a little shyly and folded her arms. "Well, it wasn't much anyway. Nothing that is as interesting as the scary thoughts that run through your scary mind."

"Alright, okay, but what happened anyway?" Theresa, of course, refused to give up. "Come on, Lanta, you said specifically that you wanted to tell me all about it, remember?"

"Okay, okay. When I sprained my leg, Archie offered to carry me. When he was walking, I have no idea what possessed me at that moment to ask me if he actually loved me, but it happened." Atlanta scratched her head ruefully, blushing a little.

"You didn't!" Theresa's eyes widened, and she gave a sharp squeal of happiness.

"I did, and he told me that... That he loved me, and I responded that I did too," Atlanta finished, grinning broadly. She had previously been having seconds thoughts about telling her best friend because she felt a little embarrassed to share this with her, but then now the awesomeness of it all rushed into her once again, filling her with the blissfulness that felt like she was sitting on a fluffy, little cloud. But anyway, those fantasies were more of Theresa's type.

She grinned, suddenly remembering what Theresa has said. "Hey, okay, enough about me, how about you?"

Theresa shrugged. "Nothing as dramatic as yours," she replied, winking. "But when I caught up with Jay, he assured me that he did love me but he couldn't be with me because he was afraid that Cronus would take advantage of our relationship to hurt him through me."

Atlanta's jaws dropped. "Oh, that was just so sweet of Jay!"

Theresa beamed and nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "And before we left for the park, he hugged me and kissed me on the top of my head."

Atlanta grinned and rolled her eyes. "See, told you that you'd nothing to worry about. He loved you, he loves you and he will always love you. No biggie."

Theresa sighed. "But he's too worried that Cronus will target me," she said glumly, pouting a little. "He doesn't want us to get together yet. Just like Jay to start overreacting."

Atlanta thought for a while, then said, "Well, I'm sure you can convince him. What, work your powers of reasoning or something. I'm sure he'd relent."

Theresa bit her lip. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, I was going to try later. I just hope it'll go alright."

Atlanta smiled encouragingly at her. "I'm sure it will. Don't worry. It's Christmas! The time of festivity and all."

And with that, the two of them walked out, one limping uncomfortably, as they went to join the Christmas dinner.

--

Hera stood, smiling at the seven teenagers who were mingling around with the gods. Although they might just be mortals, she had somehow come to love them like her own children. They were brave, young and capable, and though they might seem to be normal, the prophecy had proclaimed them special - they would be the ones to defeat Cronus.

Meanwhile, Atlanta somehow herded the seven of them into a corner and handed out ribbons, one each.

Neil wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Ugh, what's this?" His skin was currently slathered with a thick white liquid to help ease his rashes. He examined the ribbon, then accidentally poked himself with the pin at the back. "Yeouch!"

Theresa rolled her eyes, then begun. "Everyone wear that ribbon. We're going to play the No Game."

"And what's that?" Archie said, gingerly fastening his blue ribbon onto his jacket and hoping the gods weren't looking.

"Okay, so all of you have to try collect the most ribbons. To do that, you must have an opponent say the word 'No' to you. When that person says 'No', you may collect every single ribbon currently on them. They are yours till you say 'No', whether accidentally or on purpose. Other words, phrases and actions like 'Nope', 'Nah' and 'Certainly not' are alright. So yeah, the person with the most ribbons wins the game."

"Haha, that's easy," Archie scoffed, crossing his arms.

Odie frowned and shook his head. "I'm not so sure about that, Archie. After all, it is surprisingly hard to remove a common word from one's vocabulary and -"

"Nah," Neil said, grinning. "Archie's right. It's going to be easy."

Atlanta glared at Neil. "Alright, anyway, all of us can now go back and eat - but don't forget to try and trick one another."

Herry smiled and stretched. "Yay, food."

--

Zeus watched with a raised eyebrow as the teenagers emerged from the little corner, each wearing a ribbon. "Do you know what they're doing?" he asked Hephaestus.

Hephaestus shrugged. "Nope," he answered humourously, tearing into his chicken drumstick. _Ahh, Kentucky Fried Chicken._ "Maybe it's just for a little game of theirs, or something."

Meanwhile, Neil hovered near the punch bowl, waiting to catch someone in the game. After all, he had a lucky reputation to keep up, didn't he?

He watched as Jay walked by, holding a cup, and he grabbed Jay's sleeve and smiled sweetly. "Hey, Jay, do you want some punch?"

"Uhm, n- I mean, nope, I think I'd get some coffee," Jay grinned broadly at Neil, who groaned in disappointment. "You were trying to catch me in a trap, weren't you?"

"Who, _me_? I wouldn't do something like that, excuse me!" Neil huffed in pretense, but Jay just shook his head and walked off.

Neil was watching for potential prey, but what he didn't notice was that Archie was standing at the other side of the table, planning the same trick as him.

Atlanta walked by on Archie's side, who promptly stopped her. "Hey, Lannie, want some punch?" he asked, grinning a little too suspiciously at her.

Atlanta winked and said, "Nah, I'll pass." Then she leaned in and kissed Archie's cheek, causing him to be stunned and start his stuttering act at Atlanta's sudden show of affection. "How about _you_, Archie? Do _you_ want some punch?"

"N-no thanks," Archie stuttered, blushing.

"Alright, I'll have that," Atlanta smiled at him sweetly, then in a flash, she unpinned his ribbon, put it on her and was gone.

"Oh great." Archie groaned. Maybe this wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.

Meanwhile, Odie walked by on Neil's side. Neil, eager to get a ribbon, immediately "flagged" down Odie. "Hey Odie," he said, flashing a brilliant smile. "Would you like to have some punch?"

"Yeah, thanks Neil," Odie replied, surprised at Neil's kindness.

Neil, however, grabbed Odie's cup grudgingly and ladled punch into it in annoyance. Then, turning to Odie and placing the cup in Odie's hand, he whined, "You were supposed to say no!"

Odie grinned, then rolled his eyes. "Oh, so _that_ was what I was supposed to say. Alright, I'd kindly have that ribbon on you, and hey, Neil? Thanks for the punch!" Taking the ribbon off Neil, he went off to enjoy more food.

"Wha-what?" Neil said, clueless. Then realization struck him. He had said the word 'no'! Closing his eyes at his own stupidity - no, _carelessness_, Neil the supermodel could _never_ be stupid, he awaited another victim with solemness.

At the other end of the room, Theresa was getting some cake when Jay went to get some ice cream.

"Oh, you want some cake, Jay?" Theresa asked.

"I think I'll pass," Jay answered, on his guard for all the tricks coming his way. He knew Theresa could be a sly one, what with her taking advantage of how he became a bumbling fool around her all the time.

The two of them left the table to eat at the side, appreciating how much the gods had actually put into this feast. Not far away, they could spot Herry pigging out and his lack of a ribbon, while Odie stalked around displaying his three. Theresa and Jay only had one - their ones - and they hadn't lost theirs yet.

"Jay?" Theresa piqued.

"Yeah?" he answered carefully.

"You know, you said we could discuss about our relationship sometime."

"Uhm, yeah."

"I don't mind putting myself at risk by being with you, Jay. I mean, it's alright. We put ourselves in danger almost every day. I really don't mind."

"But_ I_ do," Jay said resolutely. He should have known that Theresa wouldn't have gone down without at least trying to convince him.

"But the prophecy says seven heroes will defeat Cronus, which means I will still be around to see his defeat," she argued. "I can take care of myself. Jay, I'm not a weak-minded, vulnerable damsel-in-distress, Jay."

"But I can't let you be in danger." Jay sighed and leaned against the wall heavily. "If something happens to you, I'll never forgive myself."

"So you _do_ think I'm a weak-minded, vulnerable damsel-in-distress, don't you?" Theresa crossed her arms.

Jay protested, "N-no! I-"

Theresa gave him a winning smile and unpinned his ribbon. "Thank you, Jay." Then she walked off, leaving a shocked Jay behind to think about how he had just oh-so-dumbly fallen into her trap.

About an hour later, Atlanta called all of them back. "Okay, so how was the game? Let's see those ribbons."

Atlanta had two, Theresa had two, Odie had three, while the rest of them merely grinned sheepishly and pretended not to care, especially Archie and Neil.

"Hmm, what did you say about the game being a piece of cake?" Atlanta taunted, leaning close to Archie, who folded his arms and ignored her.

"You mean... I win?" Odie questioned, looking absurdly pleased.

"Yeah," Theresa replied.

"Congrats," Neil said sarcastically, earning a glare from Odie.

"The party's just about over," Jay remarked, noticing how almost all the food had seemed to be gone. They'd just about finished everything, and everyone had eaten an astounding amount of food. Of course, Herry could be expected for that as such, but even Neil had downed quite a bit. So much for the already-thin-enough Neil being on a diet.

"We should get going, it's actually pretty late," Odie commented, glancing at his watch.

Theresa grinned. "Back to the dorm, so we can open our presents." After all, on Christmas Eve they had already dished out the gods' presents, and recieved theirs from the gods. Now it was time for some personal moments within the team, and the team alone.

"Alright, but first, I need to go see Hera. She called for me," Jay said. "Why don't you guys go first, I'll catch up later."

"Okay, will do," Archie replied, but Theresa shook her head and said, "I'll stay." After all, she had been meaning to talk to Jay, and she wasn't sure if she would have any other opportunities to do so later.

With that, the others left, and only Jay and Theresa remained in the room.

--

Okay, that wasn't half as good as the earlier chapters, but since I've already gotten to the climax, it goes down from there, I'm sorry to say. All the same, I hope it was okay with you guys! The next chapter may or may not be the last chapter. I have decided now that the I will either exclude the giving of presents part, or do something relating to that in an epilogue, which will be entirely AxA (I think). Yeah. So I've put up this poll on my profile, so you guys go and vote, alright? Vote as soon as you can, because I'll be going on a 5-day trip soon and won't be anywhere near a computer, so I can decide whether to include the epilogue or not. Yeah. Thanks(:


	9. Finally

Here it is. The supposedly last chapter unless I get an epilogue up. I know the title of this chapter is a little cheesy and all, but I'm currently out of ideas so I'll stick to it. Alright, I have little to say so I think I'll just get on with the story now. Oh yes, I'd really appreciate those who story-alert/favourite fic to drop a little review about what you guys think.

**Finally**

Jay looked over at Hera, then his gaze shifted back to Theresa. "So, do you want to go with me to see Hera, or do you want to wait here for me?"

"I'll go with you," Theresa decided, then followed him as he went to see Hera.

"Uhm, Ms Hera, you wanted to see me?" Jay asked politely - after all, Hera _was_ a goddess - and expectantly.

"Yes, Jay." Hera gave the two a rather serene smile and then she said, "The gods and I have been discussing about you, and we all acknowledged that you've all worked really hard and you have, as a team, done exceedingly well. So, we've decided to fund a ski trip for all of you -"

"Whoa," Jay said, feeling a little taken aback at the gods' sudden generosity. It wasn't everyday that Hera did something as uncharacteristic like this. He would have felt beside himself with joy if he hadn't had a nagging thought in his mind. "What about Cronus?"

"_Jay_!" Theresa admonished, tugging on his sweater sleeve in annoyance as she looked at the serene goddess, hoping that she wouldn't withdraw her offer.

Hera merely laughed. "All of you deserve a break, especially you, Jay. Take this trip as a mometary sabbatical, perhaps. If need be, we'd call for your return if Cronus shows up."

"But -" Jay protested, still unwilling to let the world be endangered like that. However, Theresa cut in.

"Thank you, Ms Hera, we really appreciate it," she said in a bubbly, cheerful tone, flashing Hera a smile.

"Alright, you may go now," Hera said, gesturing towards the door. "I've heard that you're going to give out your presents now, and I gather the others are waiting for you. Do enjoy your trip, Hermes will give Odie a call later about the details." With that, she turned and went off.

"Why did you accept it?" Jay hissed under his breath at Theresa, looking worried. "Now Cronus might just take advantage of this and -"

"He won't, Jay," Theresa replied, rolling her eyes. "Just relax, okay? Hera already said that she'd call us back if Cronus makes an appearance. It's not like we're going to be totally gone."

"Okay, _fine_," Jay said, pouting a little. "I'll chill. Happy?"

"Yes," Theresa replied, grinning.

The two walked in silence as they left the room and headed to outside of the janitor's closet. Just as they reached the outside, Theresa suddenly stopped him.

"Hey, look above you." Jay looked and he raised an eyebrow.

"Mistletoe," he said, grinning a little. A day ago, he would be trying to back his way out of this, but right now, he didn't exactly mine.

"I guess we can't skip the kiss, can we?" Theresa said rather innocently, grinning mischievously.

"I guess we can't." Jay shrugged and smiled.

Without even feeling himself, he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to her soft, warm ones. She snaked her arms around her neck and deepened the kiss wordlessly. It had been a long time Theresa had ever shared a passionate kiss with anyone, but all those behind, in her past, had been without love, without concern. And now, she was finally with someone who loved her...

Just then, footprints were heard and before the two could break apart, the footprints neared and stopped just about a feet away. An angry voice started.

"What are you two _thinking_, do you know the whole team is waitin-" Archie's eyes looked like they were bulging out, and he blushed as he took a few involuntary steps back from the reddening couple, who were still in each others' arms.

"Oops, sorry." Archie backed away. "You know what, I'll - uh - just tell them to wait." With that, Archie went off as fast as he had come.

Theresa pulled away gently from Jay's grasp, the beautiful moment ruined and her mind set to somewhat kill Archie. "You know, he's right, we should be going."

"Yeah, I guess," Jay replied, feeling a little disappointed at how Archie had interrupted. "Anyway, the night's still young. We can... always do this some other time."

A moment of awkwardness filled them both, then Theresa tugged on Jay's hand, feeling at least happy that Jay cared. "Let's go."

--

Alright, the end! There's going to be an epilogue, since everyone's votes carry it to that way. The ski trip is an opening to a possible sequel. Maybe you guys could feedback to me if you might like a sequel to this; however it probably won't be anything as grand. Hope you guys review(:


	10. Epilogue

Say hello to the final last chapter. I've been wondering whether I should do a sequel - I put up Hera giving a ski trip so that there might be an opening for a sequel should I want to write it. Anyway, I'm going to put up a poll on that too, so go vote if you have the time, okay? Tomorrow I'll be leaving for my 6-day trip, so I thought I won't put you readers to restless waiting and thus I am posting this. Okay, I shall begin.

**Epilogue**

It was midnight. It was a deathly quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. All of them had sunk into a deep sleep, having had a long night involving games and a little more than that. Only the youngest of them, the red-haired huntress, still lay awake, unable to sleep.

She moved slightly, yawning. How was it she was so dead tired yet couldn't get a wink of sleep? Tossing and turning, she recounted what had happened. A tiny smile made its way onto her face as she remembered the kiss she had given Archie, Jay's confession (to Theresa), her sudden revelation of her feelings, as well as Archie's favourable response to it. She blushed a little, feeling all tingly inside, something that had never happened before except with Pan, of which her feelings for him had strangely faded away.

She grinned, lying on her back and gazing at the ceiling. She was glad that her best friend had gotten together with Jay finally, and that Theresa had somehow managed to convince Jay into sucumbing into a relationship with her. Oh well, all's well ends well. While she was happy for her friend, she was absurdly happy that Archie and her had finally something solid to go on. Not just friends anymore... But something more than that. She didn't know how it would go, but she knew fate would lead them on, and she trusted him, as well.

Switching on the light groggily, she reached for the piece of paper beside the music box that Archie had given her. She smiled as her fingers came into contact with the slightly crushed paper. The music box was something Archie had given to her for her Christmas present; he had made it with his own two hands in Heph's workshop when she had been somewhere else. She knew he must have taken a lot of effort to build something as cool as that.

She still recalled the time that same night when he had, blushing, handed her the present that was lying under the tree, which was just waiting to be opened. He had also rushed upstairs to his room to fetch a piece of crumpled paper and he gave it to her. He told her it was some random poem he had written about her and he hadn't ever been meaning to give it to her, but now he didn't exactly care about keeping it secret anymore.

She couldn't help but smile as she brought the paper close to her face to read for probably the ten-thousandth time that night. It had pencil scrawls all over it, and looked tacky at first glance, but it was about the sweetest thing someone had ever done for her, considering she'd never exactly fallen in love and gone out with someone before.

_I've never met a girl like you  
One a friend so true  
But I've never thought that I would  
Fall in love  
In love with _you

_It was once to me, just yet another day  
Never once could I keep my despondency at bay  
In life, I didn't see any meaning  
On deteriorating hope, I was leaning_

_I was tired of trying  
Sunken from fighting  
This trapping lifestyle  
Had been too meaningless for my liking_

_Trapped within my own fear  
It didn't have a cure  
No cure besides you  
And you taught me how to trust - trust _you

_Before I knew you  
I had been so blue  
I was hopelessly lost in that endless, dark abyss  
With countless of troubles and tragedies to list_

_You opened the door  
You taught me how to soar  
You are nothing like anyone I've ever seen  
And nothing I'd ever have been_

_The way you care for me  
We're just friends, to you, I can see  
But I have to ask - am I just really another person to you?  
I would say it doesn't matter, but I can't, because...  
I love you._

She sighed with happiness, gently placing the paper on the side table. She was behaving nothing like herself and more like mushy Theresa, but she didn't care right now. She bit her lip, remembering what he had told her. That night, he had come to 'fess up all his sad past memories, which involved the cruel orphanage and the bullying treatment he had received... She shuddered to think that her purple-haired dork had undergone so many tragic moments.

He had thought that it'd make her distance herself away from him once he told her, of how scarred he was for life, but she didn't. She would never love him any less. Why would she? Instead, underneath that gruff, tough exterior, she saw someone strong, courageous and hurting, and that person was none other than her best friend, her now-boyfriend, sort-of. And that was what she loved about him. She had already known he must have been hiding something all along about his past, seeing how he used to zone out and get all grumpy when she mentioned her family. It hadn't been too difficult to guess, and that hadn't lessened his appeal, anyway.

Oh, she loved him, alright, she definitely did.

Flicking the light switch down, she closed her eyes. The room plunged into darkness and Atlanta smiled sleepily, letting sleep envelope her and carry her into her sweetest dreams.

--

I'm finally done. This time, I decided to use rhyming poems instead of abstract ones and I _know_ that my rhyming ability just about makes anyone cringe. Sorry, next time I'd do abstract, it's easier and better, I guess. Part of the poem was adapted from my poem in my story, which I'm currently writing. It's called the Theresa story (not the COTT Theresa), yeah. It's just a tribute to my characters in that story. Anyway, it's completed, finally. And I've left you fans to wonder how Theresa convinces Jay! Maybe I'll do a flashback scene if I ever come to do the sequel. It's been nice writing this, and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it, please review!!


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